The Pensacola Police Department has released its traffic report on the run-in Escambia County Commissioner Mike Kohler’s truck had with a utility pole in Sanders Beach while he was canvassing the neighborhood.
The investigator said the incident caused about $5,000 in damage to the owner and tenant of a nearby home and although Kohler did not report the incident to law enforcement, his actions did not meet the statutory criteria for a hit-and-run.
“Based on my investigation, I determined that Mike Kohler did not commit a hit-and-run offense,” Pensacola Police Officer Greg Gordon wrote.
Kohler has not returned requests for comment about the report or the incident.
The Florida Traffic Crash Report says the crash happened on April 13, 2026, near K Street and Cypress Street in Sanders Beach, and was reported to the PPD by Michele McCloskey, the tenant of 900 S. K Street, the home that had electrical damage when Kohler’s truck got away from him.
The commissioner said he was going door-to-door passing out campaign flyers and left his truck running along Cypress Street but didn’t put it in park.
According to police, the truck travelled more than 200 feet before hitting the utility pole, causing damage to the power line. The line shorted, burning the home’s weather head and caused the residence to lose power.
In an interview with the News Journal, McCloskey said she had to move out of the home for four days while various repairs related to the incident were made, and she lost work as a result.
PPD estimates damage at $5,000.
According to the report, the first officer who responded to the utility pole crash call said McCloskey’s next-door neighbor saw a man running after his truck just before it hit the pole between her yard and McCloskey’s yard.
The neighbor and McCloskey’s dog walker, Demarius Turner, both told the officer they didn’t know who the man was, only that he had a red truck with an emblem on the side that included the words “re-elect,” and that he left without providing his name or contact information.
“Neither property has cameras, a canvas of the area was completed, and no footage of the truck/incident or fliers were located,” Officer Samuel Kladitis wrote.
The report says Gordon was assigned “a hit-and-run” case on April 15, after McCloskey contacted him with footage she had obtained from a neighbor of Kohler campaigning in the area around the time of the incident.
Gordon said McCloskey told him she had “called Kohler’s office but he had not called her back.”
Gordon said he then called Kohler’s office and left a message for the commissioner, which Kohler returned the same day.
The officer said Kohler told him that he got out of his truck, did not put it in park, and it rolled into a power pole.
“Kohler stated that a male came out of the house and acted strangely,” Gordon said. “Kohler said he then parked his vehicle around the corner, returned, and a short time later spoke to fire department personnel on scene. Kohler said that he told the fire department personnel that if they needed anything, to contact him and left.”
Gordon said a Pensacola Fire Department captain confirmed Kohler approached him shortly after firefighters arrived on scene, “they had a brief conversation about what happened, and Kohler stated to contact him if they needed anything from him.”
Under Florida Statutes § 316.061, § 316.062, and § 316.027, the driver of any vehicle which collides with another vehicle or property which is unattended and results in any damage, shall immediately stop and either locate and notify the operator or owner of the vehicle or other property of the driver’s name and address and the registration number of the vehicle he or she is driving, and shall without unnecessary delay notify the nearest office of a duly authorized police authority.
The law says any person who fails to comply with this subsection commits a second-degree misdemeanor.
Gordon said the incident involving Kohler did not meet statutory criteria.
“This determination is supported by his statement, as well as statements from witnesses that he spoke with fire department personnel regarding the incident,” Gordon said. “Although he did not contact law enforcement, his actions do not meet the statutory criteria for a hit-and-run violation.”
Kohler was charged with leaving a running vehicle unattended, a moving violation.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: ‘Not a hit-and-run.’ Police release report on Mike Kohler pole crash
Reporting by Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
